text: Gold nanoshells, coated silica nanoparticles with a thin layer of gold. have been conjugated to antibodies (anti-HER2 or anti-IgG) via PEG linkers. After incubation of SKBr3 cancer cells with the gold nanoshells, an 820 nm laser was used to irradiate the cells. Only the cells incubated with the gold nanoshells conjugated with the specific antibody (anti-HER2) were damaged by the laser.  Another category of gold nanoshells are gold layer on liposomes, as soft template. In this case, drug can also be encapsulated inside and/or in bilayer and the release can be triggered by laser light.